One of the reasons that companies hire employees, such as scientists and engineers, is to develop new ideas (i.e., innovate). Innovation may be done to improve existing products, methods or processes, or to develop new products, methods or processes. Companies often convert the ideas that are conceived and documented by employees into intellectual property (e.g., patents) to protect the innovations.
Most companies have processes in place to obtain intellectual property for the innovations that are made by employees. When an employee comes up with an innovation, the employee usually documents the idea in an invention disclosure form that is reviewed by others in the company. A typical invention disclosure form includes questions that illicit responses from the employee/inventor relating to the idea and it's application.
One drawback with invention disclosure forms is that employees often fail to fill them out. When an employee fails to document and submit an idea on an invention disclosure form, a company often times never gets the opportunity to convert the idea into valuable intellectual property.
Employees often fail to document their ideas on invention disclosure forms because filling out such forms can be an intimidating and time-consuming process for individuals. Filling out an invention disclosure form can be especially intimidating to individuals that are unfamiliar with such forms or lack the capacity to adequately write down their ideas.
In addition, an individual may conceive of an idea when the individual is away from a laboratory notebook or computer that could be used to document the idea. There are times when individuals are unable to document their ideas and the ideas are irreparably lost (i.e., forgotten).